Chapter Sixteen
James
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BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
I groaned, rolled over and slammed my hand on the snooze button of my alarm clock.
'SNOOZE BUTTON HAS BEEN DISABLED. GET UP AND GO TO that dickhead's house. WAKE UP NOW, Kayli.'
I glared at the alarm and swore loudly before thrusting my sheets away, and jumping out of bed. I staggered for a second as my head swirled. The dizziness faded to be replaced by a throbbing headache. Ugh, I am never going to drink again, I vowed silently to myself.
'IT IS SEVEN AM AND A LOVELY twelve degrees Celsius. GOOD MORNING Kayli AND HAVE A MARVELOUS DAY!'
I scowled. Stupid alarm clock.
Suddenly the window screen lightened, allowing the glare of sunlight to come through. I winced as it blinded me and rushed to get into the darker bathroom. I took a long, hot shower, towelled off and then slipped into a comfortable shirt, loose leather jacket and heat-generating tights, old clothes that the owner, Tony, had given me. Apparently they were from his ex-wife and 'there was no way she was coming back to get her stuff'. I accepted them anyway, simply glad to have warmer clothing.
I took a cab to Liam's house, thankfully remembering the address. I wish I'd had enough time to eat, my stomach was rumbling from the lack of food... and the residue of alcohol. But as we drove there I was glad it was empty as I felt light-headed and ill. I would have thrown up if it were possible. I felt disgusting and probably looked it... I had avoided all mirrors on my way out of the motel. As soon as we reached the house I quickly payed and leapt out of the musty smelling car, gulping in the clean, fresh air. I lurched down the path to the door which opened before I had the chance to knock.
"Kayli!" James cried out happily. I stared at him in confusion. What had happened to that solemn boy who had wanted too much truth from me? He was looking smart in a grey and black uniform, shirt tucked in, tie perfectly knotted and everything. Wait a minute...
"Uniform?" I queried.
His green eyes were sparkling with joy. Why was this kid so damn happy? I wondered suspiciously. It was seven thirty in the morning!
"Inside. It's hanging up." He beckoned me to follow him and stepped back inside the house. I made my way up the steps and over the threshold. Leaning against the wall, watching me with narrowed eyes, was Liam. I couldn't be bothered getting mad at him so I decided to just ignore him and I turned to James who was holding out my uniform. I scowled at it. The pleated skirt was long, it would pass my knees, and the black jumper and white shirt were way too big for me.
I put it on, in the privacy of their large downstairs bathroom, and cringed when I saw my reflection in the mirror. The uniform was bad enough. Though I kept my tights on underneath, the skirt was uncomfortable, I hadn't worn one in ages. The shirt and jumper was way too big, the sleeves passing my hands so that I had to fold them back several times to fit correctly. The colouring made my already pale face look washed out and that, added to the dark circles around my eyes, made me look like a druggy. My usually bright green eyes had dulled and my auburn hair was oily, there had been no shampoos at the motel. I quickly looked around in the cupboards and found a cleansing hairspray - I wondered whose it was - which I used to fix my hair.
A tiny bit happier with the improvement to my hair, I walked out of the room, nearly straight into Liam's chest.
"Wow. Could I have a little bit of personal space?" I grumbled, my bad mood back again in a flash.
"We need to get something straight, Miss Hunter," he said in a sharp tone. "I don't want you playing with James' feelings. Pretending to be his friend or anything like that. The kid's got enough problems as it is, being such a young seer."
"Excuse me?" I exclaimed, outraged. "Pretending to be his friend? I never did such a thing. I LIKE your brother. Unlike you, he's a nice guy!"
"Don't pull your bullshit on me. I don't know what your game is, Hunter, but when I find out -"
"ENOUGH!"
Liam and I jumped, startled, and turned to where James was glowering at us. I guess his happy mood had gone out the window.
"Stop all this crap, Liam. You can Hear she's telling the truth so stop hassling her. And you!" He turned to me and I actually felt my heart skip with nerves. "You've got to get over your fear of LASER and tell him why you knew his name!"
He made the kind of exit you saw in movies. A dramatic huff.
"What has your fear of LASER got to do with the fact that you were stalking me?" muttered Liam angrily, more to himself than me.
"My hate of LASER," I corrected him and began walking to the front door.
"I'm pretty sure he said fear!" he called out after me. I ignored him and walked outside to wait. The sky was cloudy, threatening rain, which suited my sour mood. I heard the door open and close quietly behind me and immediately knew that James had followed me out.
"Sorry for yelling," he said quietly.
I spun around, shocked. "Don't you dare apologise, James. You did a good thing. We were being idiots. I just wish that you hadn't been so honest."
He sat down on the step and I lowered myself next to him. I felt affection for this kid for some reason, like he was the little sibling I never had. It was strange, I'd never even like kids before, even ones my own age.
"I think you should tell him about your mum," he blurted out. "He'd listen, I swear, and he'd know you were telling the truth."
"So you know about that, huh? Good to know that I can have privacy around you."
"Sorry," he said in a small voice. I couldn't stop myself, I put a comforting arm around him.
"You can't help it, James. And it's not like your abusing your powers. I wouldn't trust my secrets to anyone, but if I had to, I'd make that person you."
The front door swung open once more, interrupting a deep moment - I thanked the heavens, I was not good at deep - and Liam looked down on us with a frown.
"Let's go."
The car ride was silent. I rode shotgun next to Liam because James had managed to get into the back seat before me. And then sent me a look that said not to be rude when I went to follow him. I ignored Liam as he drove, yes manually drove, to my newest daily hell. I wondered what subjects I had been enrolled in, what kind of school this was, and whether or not I would die if I didn't eat something soon.
The school was far away. So far that I was worried that when Liam left I would be outside of the invisible boundary and my skin would start burning. But surely he wouldn't be that mean. Would he? When we finally arrived it was half past eight, only minutes away from the start of school. I went to leave the car but my door hadn't opened. I tried pressing the open button but it was locked.
"Go on ahead, James. I need to talk to Kayli about something," Liam said in a light tone. James paused, looking back and forth between us, before hopping out the car. I guess that meant Liam wasn't going to yell at me. I was still nervous. Once again the confines of the car were closing in on me, seeming to push me closer to him.
"What?" I asked dully.
"I'm sorry for having a go at you this morning," he began.
Whoa! What? Can I have a replay in slomo?
He continued, oblivious to my inner dialogue. "But that's my kid brother and I'm sick of the way he gets treated at school. He knows so much, not just educated but totally Aware. He could tell you things about every person in school. And he get's damn well bullied for the way he acts." He slapped his hand down on the dashboard to emphasise his point, making me jump.
"I want you to look out for him, okay? Stick up for him and maybe show others that you're friends with him. You're hot enough to gain respect from any hot-blooded male. Geez, you'd probably heat up the cold ones."
Huh. I'd just learnt three things about Liam that left me near speechless. He absolutely loved his brother and was a loyal sibling. He actually trusted me to do something for him. And he thought I was pretty? Did he actually just apologise and compliment me in the same speech? I must be dreaming.
"Sure. I'll look out for him," I managed to say.
He turned to me and smiled that glorious, breathtaking smile. "I knew you would. I lied big time this morning. I can tell you were never pretending to like him, even if I couldn't sense lies I'd be able to tell. You look at him differently to others, I can't explain it, it's almost protective."
"Yeah, I feel this connection to him for some -"
Liam cut me off. "You're late. Get to class," he said starkly and my door popped open. I climbed out, bewildered at his sudden change in emotion. Was he schizophrenic? It would explain a lot.
I turned to face the school as he drove off and sucked in a deep breath. It looked like a prison.